The key to unlocking the mystery of Mary and Martha is Balance
If you are a christian woman the topic of Mary vs Martha comes up often. Friday a very wise women from our church spoke to a room full of moms of preschoolers about this very topic.
Luke 10:38-42
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a villiage. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thins is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."
For me at my core I am a Martha. I'm all about getting things done, efficiency and perfection. Now even this is at my core you could come to my home and think otherwise. But it is who I am. It can be hard to combat that when you have passages like Proverbs 31 where we see all the things that she does!
An excellent wife who can find ?
She is far more precious than jewels
The heart of her husband trust in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax
and works with willing hands
She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and a portion for her (house)maidens
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night
She puts her hands to the distaff
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hands to the poor
and she is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing.
I don't know about you but I am exhausted just reading all that she does. Its hard not to think that is all are jobs as wives and mothers entail. But there is more to it.
Now to clarify as Holly said, there are tasks that have to be done. Unless you are keep a secret from the rest of us wives and mothers we all have 'to do' list.
cleaning
cooking
shopping
teaching
training
These things don't do themselves but our hearts attitude about it speaks volumes
All of these things the Mary heart and the Martha hands take BALANCE
Holly spells it out here:
B- Be simple;
There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens Ecclesiastes 3:1
As a mom of a preschooler I have to remember that every idea I come across on google or pinterest
A- Allow for margin;
If you know that it take 15 min to get your family from the door to the car and 15 minutes to get to where you need to go but only allow yourself exactly 30 minutes you are going to be late. Because we all know that everyone needs to go to the bathroom at the last second or someone can't find their shoe. But if you allow yourself 45 minutes you will more than likely be on time if not early.
L- Line up with Christ's priorities;
but seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 22:39
A- Ask the Lord for wisdom in your personal decisions about time and priorities. Satan wants you to believe you can do this without God! If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to al without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
N-Never put project before people:
and the second are like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself' Matthew 22:39. Tasks should NEVER be more important than my husbands, my boys, my family or my friends
C- Commitments:
What is important vs extra? Only you and your husband can make this decision. Don't base what you do on what your friend, sister or mother is doing!
E- Excellence DOES NOT EQUAL perfection. Now repeat that 10 times throughout your day!
These thought are my takeaways and thought about the talk that was given by Holly Barnett on May 4, 2012
at the same time. I really enjoy reading books but for some reason I can't get my act together with making the time for reading them!